


I thought you were gone

by requiem101



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender RPF
Genre: I don't know what else to tag, Keith comes home, Lance Is Upset, M/M, Major Spoilers, Pidge is super sarcastic, Shiro is best space dad, They talk, it doesn't go well, pure angst, tagging is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 03:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15597783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/requiem101/pseuds/requiem101
Summary: Keith arrives back at the castle and explains that Lotor is a super big baddie. Everyone is happy that Keith is back... everyone except Lance. Lance is upset that Keith was gone for so long. Keith tries to talk to Lance but it doesn't go well.





	I thought you were gone

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my take on season 6, episode 4. Everything is the same except that Lotor doesn't get away and Shiro doesn't go bat shit crazy. Oh, and the castle doesn't get destoryed. Enjoy 8-)

POV: Lance 

Lance knew it was Keith the minute Coran said they had an incoming craft. Keith had been gone for months and Lance was more than pissed off about it. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of relief when Keith’s face popped up on the screen.   
Lance didn’t know what he expected as the Altean pod landed in the hangar, but what he got was the last thing he could have imagined. Keith barely acknowledged him as he stepped out of the pod.   
Pidge was the first to speak, “Where have you been?”   
“It’s a long story, where is Lotor?” Keith said with a sense of urgency.   
“He and Allura just entered the Quintessence field.”   
“Uh Keith buddy, why is there a Galra lady, a wolf, and a blonde chick with you?” Hunk asked looking past Keith and to the bodies behind him.   
Keith looked to the Glara woman. “Everyone this is my Mother.”   
“My name is Krolia.” She said taking a step forward.   
Lance understood now why Keith hadn’t bothered to contact him over the months he had been gone, he’d found his real family. Keith no longer needed Lance now that he had his mother back. He left the hangar before Keith could explain why he had been gone for so long, he already felt bad enough as it was. 

POV: Keith 

After two years away from the castle and his fellow Paladins Keith felt like he could finally exhale the breathe he didn’t know he had been holding when he finally stepped into the hangar. It felt extraordinarily good to be surrounded by his friends and to be back in a place he knew so well.   
He scanned the group that stood before him, they all looked equally surprised and confused to see him. When his eyes landed on Lance his heart skipped a beat. Lance. God, how many times he’d envisioned coming home and reuniting with his boyfriend. Getting to feel his warm embrace against him and put his lips on his. Keith wanted to run to Lance and tell him how sorry he was about not contacting him, and about how his communicator wouldn’t work. No, he reminded himself, he had to tell the others about Lotor and what he’d done, he would talk to Lance afterwards.   
“This is Romell, and I think she should tell her own story.” Keith said looking to Romell.   
After Romell finished explaining what Lotor had done the others looked stunned. No sooner did she finish telling her story when Allura and Lotor arrive back onto the castle. Only then did Keith realize that Lance was no longer with the group.   
As they waited for Allura and Lotor Keith pulled Hunk aside, “Do you know where Lance went?”   
Hunk looked surprised when he saw that the Red Paladin was no longer with the group, “I don’t know, he must have run off at some point. Why?”   
“No reason, I just thought he might wanna be here for this.”   
Hunk shrugged, “I don’t know man, he’s probably around here somewhere.”   
Keith felt guilty for not telling Hunk the real reason he wanted to know where Lance was. When Keith was still with Voltron Lance and him had been kept quiet. The others probably knew anyway but none of them ever said anything about it.   
Suddenly the door to the bridge slid open, everyone was silent as Allura and Lotor walked into the room. Keith and Krolia raised their weapons while the others stood on defense.   
The Paladins and Romell explained to Allura that Lotor had been harvesting quintessence from Alteans for centuries. Lotor tried to reason with Allura but it was no use, Keith could see in her eyes that she believed the Paladins over him. Allura looked heartbroken as she slammed Lotor into the ground. Keith almost felt sorry for the guy, because angering Allura was probably the last thing he was going to do.   
Alarms started to blare and after a tick Coran announced that it was Lotor’s troops stealing the ships in the hangar.   
“I’ll secure Lotor, you all go deal with his troops.” Allura commanded to the group, the ice in her voice made Keith want to shiver.   
“Allura-” Pidge started.   
“I said I’ll secure Lotor and you deal with the troops!” She snapped before dragging Lotor off the bridge. 

Lance was still nowhere to be found as the lions attacked Lotor’s goons, but it didn’t matter, they still had four of the five lions. They put up a good fight but it wasn’t good enough to beat the lions. With Lotor’s thugs apprehended they headed back to the castle.   
“Coran what’s the damage?” Shiro asked as they sat on the bridge.   
“Well,” Coran said while fingering his moustache in thought. “It’s not great, but none of the main operations have been damaged except the Teleduv. We won’t be able to open a wormhole until it’s repaired.”   
“I can help.” Pidge said popping up from her spot on the floor.   
“Excellent, it’s always good to have a helping hand. Come along number five, we’ve got work to do.” Coran said as he left the bridge, causing Pidge to scramble after him.   
“What do we do now?” Hunk asked once the bridge had gone silent again.   
“We get some sleep and figure out what to do with Lotor in the morning.” Shiro said, though Hunk clearly meant long-term.   
“I’m gonna go find Lance.” Keith said as he got up from the floor.   
Shiro put a hand on Keith’s shoulder as he began to walk towards the door, “Keith, Lance went through a lot while you were gone…”   
“And?” Keith said impatiently.   
Shiro seemed to hesitate before speaking, “Just… be careful.”   
Be careful? What did that mean? Keith tried to imagine what Shiro had meant by that as he walked towards Lance’s quarters. It couldn’t have been that bad, right?   
Keith reached Lance’s quarters but hesitated before knocking. Maybe talking to Lance wasn’t such a great idea. No, he was going to do this now. Whether it was a good idea or not.   
“What?” Lance asked from the other side of the door, he sounded tired.   
“Lance it’s… It’s me.” Keith felt like an idiot for saying it like that, of all the ways he had imagined his homecoming this wasn’t one of them.   
“Go away.” Lance said coldly.   
“I just wanna talk.”   
“I said go away!” Lance shouted.   
The venom in Lance’s words made Keith wann hide in his quarters, but he had to do this.   
“Please just hear me out.” Keith begged as he pressed his forehead against the door. “Please.”   
Lance was silent on the other side of the door. Keith kept his head against it as he slid down to the floor. He hoped and prayed that Lance would just hear him out, then he could be as mad as he wanted. He just needed to get this off his chest.   
A heavy thud came from the other side of the door and Keith knew Lance was sitting on the other side of the door.   
“Lance I know you’re there. Please just talk to me. You can hit me, scream at me, hate me! But please just listen.” Keith pleaded as his eyes began to sting with tears. 

POV: Lance 

Lance knew he should hear Keith out, even though he was still fuming. He swept his gaze around the room and bit his lip. He’d done a number on his room, almost everything he owned had gotten caught up in his storm of emotions.   
With a long breathe Lance pushed the button that opened the door as he sat crossed legged on the floor. Lance hung his head low, he was determined not to let Keith see how upset he had made him.   
“Lance,” Keith said after a sullen silence. “I’m sorry.”   
Keith sat down across from Lance and continued his apology. “I’m sorry about leaving, about not contacting you, but you have to understand that I couldn’t get my communicator to work no matter how many times I tried to fix it. I know I was gone for a while bu-”   
Lance’s head snapped up, “Six months.”   
“What?” Keith asked confused.   
“You were gone for six months.” Lance said with ice laced in his voice.   
“I was away for two years, time works differently where I was. I know that it must be upsetting for you-”   
Lance didn’t let him finish his sentence, “You don’t get it, do you? I don’t care if it was two years or six months! You were still gone! I thought… I thought you were dead. And now you come waltzing back here like everything is okay!”   
“Lance, I…”   
Lance stood up from the floor, “Besides you have your Mom here now, so you don’t need me anymore. You can get your stuff later, or what’s left of it.”   
Keith gave him a puzzled look, “What do you mean ‘I have my Mom here now’?”   
“You don’t need me anymore! She’s your real family, so just go be with her already!” Lance shouted before angrily pushing the button to close the door. 

POV: Keith 

Keith was stunned. Why would Lance think he didn’t need him anymore? Yes, Krolia was his mother, but that didn’t mean Keith was going to abandon Lance. The whole thing made Keith’s head pound.   
Keith thought about trying to coax Lance out of his room after he shut him out, but after some thought Keith decided it would be best to give him his space.   
Back on the Bridge, Shiro and Coran were talking about what to do next since Lotor was currently sitting in a containment pod.   
“Where’s Allura?” He asked as he took his regular seat.   
“After locking Lotor up she locked herself in her room and hasn’t come out since.” Pidge said, not looking up from her laptop as she typed furiously. “Though, I can’t imagine why. Her half-Galra boyfriend only betrayed her and was draining her people of their life forces.”   
“Not the time for sarcasm Pidge.” Shiro chided. “How did your talk with Lance go?”   
“Not great, he thinks that now that I have Krolia in my life I don’t need him anymore.” Keith said as he rubbed his temple.   
“Sounds like Lance.” Pidge muttered.   
“Lance has been… different since you left.”   
Pidge scoffed, “Yeah, if different means locking himself in his room and not eating for days on end.”   
“Watch it Pidge.” Shiro scolded.   
“Sorry.” She murmured as her typing slowed.   
“Why didn’t you guys do anything?” Keith asked with slight alarm in his voice.   
“You don’t think we tried? Lance is stubborn, and when he doesn’t want to do something he’s not going to do it.”   
Keith’s headache was getting worse and he had to count to ten to make the pain cease for the time being.   
“Keith, are you alright?” Shiro asked.   
“I’m fine. Pidge I’m gonna need a favor.”   
The teen finally looked up from her laptop, “Anything, just name it.” 

POV: Lance

Lance was still shaking on his bed when a knock came from the door. What did Keith want now? Wasn’t one humiliation enough?  
“What?” Lance snarled as he shoved his head under a pillow.   
“Lance, it’s Pidge. Can I come in?” A muffled voice asked.   
After a moment of deliberation Lance sighed. “Yeah, come on in.”   
The door slid open a moment later and Pidge walked into the room. She wrinkled her nose at the sight of Lance’s room.   
“You look terrible.” She commented as her eyes scanned Lance up and down.   
“Gee thanks, are you just here to mock me, or is there a point to this?” Lance asked with a yawn.   
Pidge fingered something in her hands, “Keith asked me to give you this, he knew you wouldn’t let him in. Just set it on top of your communicator and it should work.”   
The device resembles a flash drive. Except, whereas a flash drive is rectangular, this particular piece of equipment was more of an octagon shape. Lance took it after a moment of hesitation.   
“For the record, Keith is sorry. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t get home.” Pidge said before letting the door slide shut behind her.   
Lance eyeballed the device sitting in his hand. He didn’t know what to expect if he hooked it up to his communicator, but whatever it was had to be better than actually talking to Keith, right?   
After several minutes of debate Lance finally set the device on top of his communicator. The device whirred to live after several seconds and a holographic screen popped up in front of him. Only one file sat on the screen in front of him, when Lance clicked on it more files came up, each one marked Dear Lance. Each file had a date on it, the dates were never more than a day apart.   
Lance scrolled all the way to the bottom of the page and looked at the first file, after a moment of hesitation he clicked on it.   
Dear Lance,   
I don’t know how to write this, it’s hurts to just think it. I’ve found my Mother, her name’s Krolia, but my mission hasn’t gone according to plan. We’re drifting in space on top of a giant space whale, but we’re alive so that’s something, I guess. I don’t know how I’m going to get home but I’m going to try. Krolia seems hopeful that we’ll be able to get back alive. I think you’d like her, she can be quiet but she’s a good person. I’ve told her a lot about you, it hurts being away from you and talking about it helps. I don’t know when I’ll see you again Lance, but know that I am doing everything I can to get back home to you. I love you, and I’m doing everything I can to get home.   
Love,   
Keith   
Lance felt his throat tighten and his eyes water as he read the letter. Guilt poured into him as he clicked on the next letter and began to read. 

The letters became increasingly longer the further Lance read. Keith mostly repeated his promise that he was coming home. Lance supposed not much happened on a giant space whale. Keith’s Mother, Krolia, sounded amazing from the way Keith wrote about her in his letters. She worked with The Blade for years and was their best operative. Lance couldn’t help but smile at the way Keith praised her in his letters, though Lance could sense that there was still tension between the two.   
After Lance finished reading the last of the letters he turned off the octagon-shaped device and looked at the room around him. He couldn’t believe Lotor had been doing that to the Alteans. The very thought made his stomach roll. Tissues littered the bed and the mess he made earlier still lay on the floor in front of him. As Lances’ eyes landed on the clock and he saw five hours had passed.   
A knock at the door startled Lance from his thoughts.   
“Lance, it’s Allura. May I come in?” Allura asked from the other side of the door.   
“Yeah, come in.”   
The door slid open and Allura crossed the threshold into Lance’s room. Her eyes widen a little at the mess Lance had made. Stepping over the clutter Allura took a seat at the end of Lance’s bed.   
“I made you a sandwich. Well, I tried to make you a sandwich.” Allura said holding up a plate with her sandwich attempt on it.   
“Thanks.” Lance mumbled as he took the plate from her.   
Allura pursed her lips as she looked at Lance but said nothing. Lance poked at the sandwich but he really didn’t feel like eating, even though it had been hours since anything had been in his stomach.   
Allura opened and closed her mouth as if to say something but she said nothing. This process continued until she finally took in a breathe and said, “Why did you storm off earlier?”   
Lance looked up at her and considered her question. He could lie and say he didn’t feel well, but lying to Allura didn’t sit right in his stomach.   
“Did Keith do something to upset you?”   
“Yes… No… I don’t know.” Lance sighed as he hugged a pillow to his chest.  
Allura pulled her legs onto the bed and sat crossed legged. “I know that you and Keith were… intimate. Does that have anything to do with it?”   
Lanec nodded slightly before he felt his chin begin to quiver and new tears welling up in his eyes. “I thought he was dead. I seriously thought that he was dead Allura. Then he came back and… I don’t know.”   
Allura nodded thoughtfully, “I know you grieved for Keith in the past few months. It must be hard having someone you love come back into your life after so long.”   
“I just… I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.” Lance whispered as he covered his eyes with his hands.   
“I know how you feel. I thought Lotor was on our side, and I let myself…” Allura squeezed her eyes shut. Suddenly Lance felt like the biggest idiot in the galaxy. Here he was complaining about Keith when Allura had just been through a heartbreak herself.   
“I’m sorry about Lotor.”   
Allura opened her eyes and gave Lance a weak smile. “It’s not your fault, it’s none of our faults. Lotor was corrupted from the beginning, I was just so focused on making peace between us and the Galra that I was blind to Lotor’s madness.”   
A tear slipped down her cheek but she wiped it away quickly. Lance knew that Allura had some feelings for Lotor but he didn’t consider the fact that Allura might have loved the Galra Prince.   
“Think about what I said. Talk to Keith. Work this out.” Allura said before wrapping Lance in quick embrace and exiting his quarters. 

POV: Keith 

Keith could only listen to Shiro and Coran talk about star charts and whatever else for so long before he got bored. Leaving the bridge Keith wandered the castle halls until he finally ended up in the training room. The room looked the same as when Keith had left; it looked pristine and orderly. It may sound odd but out of all the rooms in the castle Keith missed this one the most. Some of his best memories came from the training room: training with the other Paladins, sparring with Shiro, friendly competitions (that usually ended up in a makeout session) with Lance.   
Keith winced at the the thought of Lance. He knew that their conversation wouldn’t be pleasant but the whole thing practically blew up in his face the moment he knocked on the door. There had to be a way to make Lance see that Keith was sorry, he had Pidge deliver his letters he wrote but for all Keith knew Lance hadn’t even looked at them.   
Too many thoughts swirled in Keith’s mind, he needed to clear his head and training was the best way to do that. Keith picked up his knife and set the training mode to level three. He readied his stance with his knife in hand as faceless soldiers ran towards him.   
Keith destroyed century after century, he dove and ducked and stabbed until the room told him he successfully completed level three. Everything ached and suddenly Keith felt exhausted, the only thing he wanted to do was sleep in his bed.   
Keith was so wrapped up in the thought of taking a warm shower and sleeping in his bed that he didn’t see Lance standing in front of him. The two collided and both were knocked down onto the floor.   
“Ow.” Lance muttered as he rubbed his head.   
“Sorry.” Keith said quickly, he reached out to help Lance up but Lance denied the gesture and got up himself.   
After the two collected themselves from their collision they stood awkwardly, neither of them knowing what to say or how to say it.   
“I just finished with training, so the rooms all yours.” Keith finally said as he stepped past Lance to leave.   
“Wait,” Lance said grabbing his wrist. “I came here to talk to you.”   
Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise, “How did you know I would be here?”   
“This is your favorite room in the castle… Or it was.” Lance said lowering his gaze to the floor.   
After another moment of silence Keith finally cleared his throat, “So what did you want to talk about?”   
Lance looked up at Keith and took in a deep breathe, “I was mad because I thought you didn’t need me anymore. You have Krolia so why stick with me? I thought you left me for The Blade, or that you were dead. I’m sorry I got mad, but you still left me for The Blade.”   
Keith looked into Lance’s eyes, “Lance listen to me, Krolia may be in my life but I’ve only known her a short while. I’ve known you for years. She could never replace you. I love you, that never changed.”   
The smallest of smiles crossed Lance’s face, “You’ve never said I love you before.”   
Keith let out a small laugh, “I guess I haven't, theres a first time for everything.”   
Suddenly Keith was being engulfed by Lance’s arms as they wrapped around him. Though the hug took him by surprise Keith didn’t hesitate to embrace Lance tightly. Lance’s scent filled Keith’s nose as he inhaled heavily; he missed that smell, the smell of home.   
“This is the only thing I’ve wanted to do since you’ve been back. I let my emotions get in the way.” Lance breathed as he peppered kisses on various parts of Keith’s head.   
“Does this mean you forgive me?” Keith asked him, though the question was muffled due to his face being pressed into Lance’s chest.   
Keith felt Lance’s body tense at the question, “No, not yet, but I’m working on it. I’ll get there.”   
Keith’s shoulders sagged at Lance’s answer, he knew it wouldn’t have been that easy. Their relationship needed time to heal, and they could work on that later. Right now this was good for Keith. As long as they had each other things would be okay. Keith truly believed that as he stood with Lance’s arms wrapped around him.

**Author's Note:**

> This particular piece of fanfiction took me soooooo long to write. I had to rewatch several episodes and do a lot of research with a handy dandy wiki page. But I did finally finish it and it feels good. Celebratory jazz hands! Woo! I hope you enjoyed it! Please tell me what you thought in the comments, I love getting suggestions and feedback.  
> Leave good vibes and live good lives,  
> Requiem101


End file.
